Product Details

• Actors: Chris Sarandon, Peter Cushing, Kenneth More, Barry Morse, Flora Robson
• Directors: Jim Goddard
• Format: Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Image Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: November 13, 2007
• Run Time: 156 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000UYN9OA
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #18,964 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description
The ultimate tale of love, honor and sacrifice during the bloodstained French Revolution is movingly brought to life in this sumptuous production. The dashing Chris Sarandon (The Princess Bride) stars in dual roles as the cynical lawyer Sydney Carton and the disenchanted aristocrat Charles Darnay, both in love with the same woman (Alice Krige, Star Trek: First Contact). Also starring Peter Cushing (Star Wars), this Golden Globe-nominated version of the Charles Dickens classic thrillingly captures all the drama and emotion of one of history's most explosive eras.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not the same as the book, but. . . ., June 16, 2004

By	Ruth Henriquez Lyon (Duluth, Minnesota USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Tale of Two Cities: Literary Masterpieces [VHS] (VHS Tape)

. . .it was a good watch anyway. Chris Sarandon was outstanding in the roles he played of look-alikes Charles Darnay and Sydney Carton. He captured Carton's sardonic humor well, and evoked his melancholic fatalism and innate dignity with much pathos. A quite elderly Kenneth More put on a great performance as the officious but kindly banker, whose character provided much humorous dialogue. The character of Miss Pross, the sharp-eyed chaperone, was absolutely wonderful.

I never expect a movie to follow a novel very closely -- books and films are two completely different art forms and cannot be translated one to the other with good effect. As the movie begins we see the words "Based on the novel by Charles Dickens." With those words we are given fair warning that what is to follow is an interpretation of Dickens' vision.

What this film did was capture what is so wonderful about Dickens' novels -- the alternation between the humor and the darkness at the center of much human experience. The scenes were knit together flawlessly, so that a rather complicated plot taking part in two different places came together without confusion or awkward transitions. The pacing was artfully done, and the last 40 minutes or so were very suspenseful.

It's too bad the movie received so many bad reviews because it didn't follow the book. I've read the book and found it, like many of Dickens' works, to be wonderful, but also probably inaccessible to many readers. This film takes a good story and opens it up to those who may never open the book.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Loved It, June 14, 2004

By	Mitzie Carvel (Olympia, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tale of Two Cities: Literary Masterpieces [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This is my favorite version of A Tale of Two Cities. I do not agree with the review that said it was "flat". I have seen other versions and think Chris Sarandon did an outstanding job. Dickens would be proud

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, November 9, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Tale of Two Cities: Literary Masterpieces [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I have recently watched this movie in High School and I loved it. I thought that it was very detailed and real. The actors were incredible and the movie really made me think. The characters were so incredible and I fell in love with the plot. I would recommend this movie to everyone. I think that people of all ages should see this movie. It was a great learning experience and it held my interest.